Gideon58's Reviews

I love Judy Holliday. It's a shame that she died so young. I'm sure that she would have had a great career, and made some more wonderful movies, if she had lived longer.

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Even though she only made 16 movies, she did have a great career. Of the ones I've seen, not a dud in the bunch. It would have been nice to see what else she would have done if she had lived longer, maybe even won a second Oscar, she was that good.

Avatar: The Way of Water
It took him thirteen years, but Oscar winning director James Cameron has managed to come up with a viable sequel to his 2009 smash called Avatar: The Way of Water, a thunderous and technically breathtaking sequel that offers a similar ecological message as the first film, but also provides a surprisingly humanized look at family dynamics that makes this story a little more accessible than the first one.

As this film opens, Jake Scully (voiced by Sam Worthington) and his wife, Neytiri (voiced by Zoe Saldana) have settled comfortably into their lives on Pandora where they now have four children, two of whom are adopted and one who is human. Colonel Quartrich (voiced by Stephen Lang) has not given up on his vendetta against Jake and has assumed Avatar form to get him back, a vendetta that forces Jake and his family to leave their current home and reside on a neighboring moon with a similar tribe, who initially welcome them and try to introduce them to a new life, but Quartrich's determination and some surprising familial connections come to surface making a new life for Jake and his family virtually impossible.

As expected, Cameron has provided us with a feast for the eyes ad ears courtesy of unparalleled film technique, but he has layered the cinematic razzle dazzle with multiple stories centered around family dynamics that make this film as much of a family drama as it does a science fiction adventure. We witness Scully's adopted son, Spider, being separated by his family but never wavering in his love for him, as well as a younger brother trying to step out of his older brother's shadow, and a teenage daughter struggling to find her place in the family. The aforementioned ecological message comes through as Jake's family learns that life on the new moon involves learning to live underwater. The family's initial plunge into the water where they seem to develop the ability to breathe underwater and the younger brother's relationship with a gargantuan sea monster are a joy to behold. The emotions that the characters express are much richer in this film as is the demented determination of Quartrich, which reminded me of T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Cameron's attention to minor details is on the money here. My eye was immediately struck by the sight of the new tribe and the similarities and differences between them and Jake's family. The new tribe have bigger and thicker tails and all of their hair is different. Jake's family all have the same braids. Also loved the detail put into the sound whenever a character would hold their breath before plunging underwater. Was also impressed when Jake's younger son gets into a fight with teens from the other tribe and during the next scene, one of the participants has a huge bruise on his face. More importantly, like he did in The Abyss, Cameron shows the power of water and how it can destroy as quickly as it can protect.

The film has received four Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Production Design, Visual Effects, and Sound, the award it should definitely win. If you enjoyed the first film, you will enjoy this one too, but if you've never seen the 2009 film, you should watch it first like I did. It's a little longer than it needed to be, but riveting enough I was able to forgive.

The Whale (2022)
In the most spectacular comeback to films since Mickey Roarke in The Wrestler, Brendon Fraser will win his first Oscar for Outstanding Lead Actor for The Whale, a claustrophobic, unforgiving, frightening and terribly sad look at a man who has given up on most of his life, coincidentally, guided by the same director who directed The Wrestler.

Fraser plays Charlie, a gay college professor who teaches English online because he is so morbidly obese he is unable to leave the house. When he lectures his students, he keeps his screen off so that his students don't know what he looks like. Being barely ambulatory, the people in Charlie's orbit are very limited: there is Liz, his caregiver who knows he belongs in the hospital but is enabling his inevitable premature death; a young religious zealot who feels he can help Charlie; his angry ex-wife who has never gotten over the fact that Charlie left her to be with a man, and most importantly, the only thing in Charlie's life he hasn't given up on, his teenage daughter, Ellie, who appears to hate Charlie with a white hot passion.

A lot has been written about this film over the past year but very little about the near brilliant screenplay by Samuel D. Hunter, based on a play, in its unapologetic crafting of this central character. We are initially extremely sympathetic for this character who has to put a lot of work into getting out of his chair and has to put money for the pizza delivery guy in the mailbox so that he can leave the pizza at the door. We don't see the layers that are added to this character as the film progresses that make the character not as sympathetic as he initially appears to be. It becomes clear that all the wrong he has done was in the name of his daughter, whose approval is so important to him he has offered her all of his money to reconnect with her rather than to help himself. His daughter's nasty manipulation of her father's guilt makes it difficult to sympathize with her either. Even the young religious zealot turns out to have a backstory and agenda that are disturbing and unnecessary complications to Charlie's life.

Darren Aronofsky, who not only directed The Wrestler, but Requiem for a Dream, is no stranger to mounting stories about severely broken people and manages to mount this story from as many angles as possible. Love the first scene of Charlie teaching with his screen dark while the camera pans over the screens of his students who are all reacting to Charlie in individual ways as well as their reactions near the end when Charlie reveals himself to them. Aronofsky is also not shy about showing us the pain and inconvenience of Charlie's condition...the difficulty of simple things we take for granted like removing a T-shirt or picking something up off the floor are not easy to watch, not to mention the scene where Charlie almost chokes on a submarine sandwich...the terrified look on his face as he realizes what is happening is heartbreaking.

Brendon Fraser's personal life and career have been a private hell for several years now and watching him able to work past his personal demons through this damaged character was a joy to witness. He may no longer be the hunky sex symbol who spent George of the Jungle clad only in a loin cloth, but he completely invests in this pathetic and complex character in a performance that displays the talent that Fraser hinted at in Gods and Monsters. There is no doubt that this performance will win Fraser his first Oscar.

Hong Chau has also earned a supporting actress nomination for her explosive performance as Charlie's caregiver, Liz. Sadie Sink, who impressed earlier this year in Dear Zoe, is uncomfortably caustic as Charlie's angry daughter and Samantha Morton does imbue some sympathy as Charlie's ex...the moment where she asks to listen to Charlie's heart is lovely, but with a solid assist from Darren Aronofsky, this film is a triumph for Brendon Fraser who proves to be an actor of depth and sensitivity.

The Asphalt Jungle
Fans of the Stanley Kubrick classic The Killing will have a head start with 1950's The Asphalt Jungle, another noir-ish crime drama like Kubrick's film, except in this story, things start falling apart after the crime is committed.

A career criminal named Doc who has just been released from prison already has a plan for a jewel heist worth about half a million dollars. A bookie friend of his leads him to a lawyer of questionable ethics named Alonzo Emmerich for $50,000.00 to front the operation, who also offers to buy the diamonds after the heist. Doc's crew includes a gunman named Dix Handley who plans to return to the farm where he grew up with his share, Gus as the driver, and Louis as the safecracker. The heist goes off without a hitch, but our pertinent players begin to start double crossing each other and going into self preservation, resulting in most of the pertinent players ending up in jail or dead.

Two time Oscar winner John Huston provides meticulous artistry as the director and co-screenwriter of this slick crime thriller, based on a novel by WR Burnett that doesn't waste any time with exposition or backstory, getting to the story at hand immediately and quickly introducing the primary players with precious little background. What the screenplay does do effectively is, despite the fact that most of the characters are criminals, quickly establishes who the good guys and the bad guys are. I was impressed that the Emmerich character was in bed with a dirty cop, which I didn't see coming at all.

Eventually, two characters come into focus as the most compelling elements of the story. We connect immediately with Doc because he is older, experienced, and easily the smartest character in the movie. His ability to gauge who he can trust and who he can't is a joy to behold. I also found the Emmerich character equally as fascinating, whose smarm factor bubbles quietly to the surface, but is not as smart as he thinks he is. His treatment of his invalid wife and his sexy young mistress doesn't endear him to the viewer either, but definitely makes us want to see this guy get what's coming to him.

Houston received two Oscar nominations for his taut direction and for his contribution to the screenplay. Hollywood veteran Sam Jaffe also received a supporting actor nomination for his crisp performance as Doc. Sterling Hayden commands the screen as Dix the same way he did in The Killing and Jean Hagen, who a couple of years later would almost steal Singin in the Rain as Lina Lamont, is terrific as Dix's ex who re-enters his life and is oblivious to the danger Dix might have put her in. The character reminds me of Lucille Ball's character in The Dark Corner. A young Marilyn Monroe also impresses in her sixth feature film role as Emmerich's young mistress, Angela. Some of the posters for this movie have Marilyn plastered all over them like she's the star of the movie, but she has less than 10 minutes of screen time. The real scene stealer here was Louis Calhern in the complex role of Emmerich. I've seen a pretty good chunk of Calhern's work over the years but this is the first time I've seen him in a straight dramatic role and he nails it. Another classic that lived up to its reputation.

I love The Asphalt Jungle, The Killing is good too but I'll take John Huston's rich character pathos over Kubrick's more analytically detailed film. My favorite movie quote of all time is from this movie, any guesses?

I do remember one line that made me laugh out loud, but I'm drawing a blank now.

Was it Marilyn's line to Louis Calhern when she says, "you big banana head"...that's my favorite, cracks me up.

That wasn't the one i was thinking of but that was pretty funny. Marilyn was adorable in this movie.

She was and like you said in your review Calhoun and Hagen would really strong too, so was Jaffe and Sterling Hayden. Did you watch that as part of a movie watching theme?

Nope, just been meaning to watch it for awhile and finally got around to it. Also I thought it might spark a conversation with you because I know what a big Sterling Hayden fan you are.

Yup I'm a big fan of Sterling Haydens that's for sure.

I thought maybe you were referring to Hayden's line, "Don't bone me". He meant don't treat him like a piker, but of course today, to "bone" someone means something entirely else....

M3gan
Take the 1978 Anthony Hopkins thriller Magic and throw in a dash of The Terminator and you have the gist of a somewhat effective 2022 nail biter called M3gan that does provide some terror on the surface, but leaves too much unexplained to be a full-bodied movie experience.

Gemma is a robotic engineer for a giant toy company called Funki Toys, who has just gained custody of her niece, Katie after her sister and brother-in-law are killed in a car accident that Katie somehow survived. Gemma and her team are putting the finishing touches on a doll/robot they have named M3gan that Gemma programs so that Katie has primary control of her, forcing Funki to incorporate Katie into the launch of the doll onto the market, at the whopping cost of $10,000 a pop, but before this launch can happen, M3gan mysteriously begins taking on a life and mind of her own.

Screenwriter Akela Cooper has provided a screenplay adapted from a story by James Wan that seems to offer originality as it begins, but as the story progresses, seems to borrow a lot of things from other movies. Gemma seems to be in complete control of M3gan as the film opens, just like Anthony Hopkins' Corky seemed to have control of his dummy Fats in Magic, but like Corky, once Gemma loses control of her creation, no explanation is offered as to exactly how it happens and M3gan becomes unstoppable. Early on, there are shots of M3gan's interior computer brain that should be offering information like the Terminator's interior brain, but they don't, giving what we're watching little basis in realism. On the other hand, I did love the touch of black comedy provided by Gemma's boss, David, sort of a contemporary Larry Tate who is looking at nothing but the money Funki can make from M3gan. And how M3gan learned that David's assistant Kurt tried to steal Megan's programs was also a mystery.

It was difficult to pinpoint exactly when Gemma loses control of M3gan...initially, all Gemma has to say is "turn off" and the doll ceases to function, but I did like that at first M3gan protested being turned off but did and then just ignored turn off commands. After watching her shaking beginnings with Gemma as her new guardian, we understand Katie's connection to M3gan, but it takes Katie way too long to figure out what's going on.

The technicians behind the creation of the title character are to be applauded. It is clear that there is an actually actress under there, but she is efficiently made up with authentic china doll-like skin that gives her a non-human look with those frightening and piercing eyes that were impossible to read for most of the time. M3gan definitely develops a mind of her own at some point, despite the fact we that we never know exactly what she' thinking. Allison Williams from the HBO series Girls is a little one-note as Gemma, but I loved Ronny Chieng as David and the physicality that Amie McDonald brought to the title character was impressive. There are some scares provided, but too many dangling plot elements hurt this one a little. There is also a not-so-subtle set-up for a sequel.

The Lemon Drop Kid
A sparkling performance by Bob Hope anchors a surprisingly entertaining comedy called The Lemon Drop Kid, that provides pretty consistent laughs thanks to some larger than life character created by Damon Runyon, the creative force behind Guys and Dolls.

The 1951 comedy finds Hope playing the title character, a fast talking con man who owes $10,000 to a gangster named Moose Moran and he has until Christmas Eve to do it, which is 18 days away. The Kid decides the only way he can raise the money is by creating an old ladies home, using a street peddler friend of his named Nellie Thursday as the front. Unfortunately, the kid makes the mistake of opening up the nursing home in a casino that Moran used to own and another gangster named Oxford Charlie is also onto The Kid's scam and is trying to steal it with help of Brainey Baxter, the kid's girlfriend. who is a chorus girl at a nightclub that Charlie owns.

Hope gets a big assist here from a very funny screenplay that might be a tad more complex than need be, but works thanks to its focus on two things at which Hope was always an expert: physical comedy and the one-liner. As always with a Hope comedy, you can almost hear the rimshot in the distance as he rattles off his one-liners, but we forgive because nobody did a one-liner like Hope and he makes every one of them work here.

The Damon Runyon influence is felt throughout, from the Runyan type character names for a lot of the characters to some plot elements that fans of Guys and Dolls might recognize. The subplot of The Kid trying to get out of marrying Brainey reminded me a lot of the relationship between Nathan Detroit and Miss Adelaide in the Frank Loesser musical, but, if the truth be told, the Kid is a lot funnier than Nathan and might have been the inspiration for Nathan Detroit, since this film was made before the Broadway musical hit the boards. This is also the only film I've seen where Hope appears in drag.

A couple of musical numbers even get squeezed into the proceedings. Hope and Marilyn Maxwell, who plays Brainey, duet on a number called "It Don't Cost a Dime to Dream" and this is the film that introduced one of the most beloved Christmas songs of all time, "Silver Bells." Hope gets terrific support from a solid supporting cast including Fred Clark as Moose Moran, Lloyd Nolan as Oxford Charlie, Oscar winner Jane Darwell as Nellie Thursday, and William Frawley as Gloomy Willie. It takes a little longer than necessary to wrap, but Hope makes the ride worth it.

You People
2023's You People is a contrived and humorless comedy that is a collaboration between Jonah Hill and Kenya Barris, tbe creator of the ABC sitcom Black-ish that ultimately misses due to a serious lack of chemistry between the stars,

This is the story of the unlikely romance that develope between a 35 year old Jewish guy named Ezra (Hill) and a beautiful Black Muslim woman named Amira (Lauren London) and how cultural clashes and societal pressure eventually tear them apart

It was Barris' part as director and co-screenwriter that initially drew me to this film because I was a huge fan of Black-ish, a smart and funny sitcom that addressed a lot of edgy racial issues that The Cosby Show should have but didn't. Unfortunately, the writing here is smug and cliched as we get the expected blind prejudice from Amira's father (brilliantly played by Eddie Murphy), who comes off as a black version of Jack Burns in Meet the Parents. On the other side of the spectrum, we have Ezra's mother (Julia Louis-Dreyfuss), who works so hard at proving how racially tolerant she is, we get the opposite effect and, just like Ezra, we just want her to shut up. The constant use of the "N" word and the word "Jew" gets tiresome quickly, as do Amira's friends always referring to Ezra as "the white guy."

Barris and Hill attempt to disguise the deficiencies in the story with stellar production values and a serious dose of star power, but the primary reason this film doesn't work is that there is absolutely no chemistry between Hill and London. We never believe the romance is genuine because the destruction of their relationship was too easy. Amira's father never giving Ezra a break was something we've seen in a million movies and just because we're nearing the end of the film's two hour running time, he has this epiphany that comes out of nowhere that wraps up the story in a way too neat little bow. There was one scene in the movie that really worked for me and that was when Ezra has lunch with Amira's father and mother (Nia Long, who looked AMAZING) to ask their blessing to him proposing to Amira, without her presence or knowledge, a bold move on Ezra's part. The scene is brilliant but it's a ten-minute scene in a two hour movie.

Director Barris does get strong performances from Hill and especially Murphy, who seems to be entering a new phase in his career that he initiated with Mr. Church, but it is the lack of chemistry between Hill and London that eventually does this one in. My first 2023 movie was a real disappointment.

A Fine Madness
After his first four film appearances as 007, the late Sean Connery found a welcome change of pace with A Fine Madness, a manic and wildly uneven comedy that provides solid adult entertainment thanks to an edgy screenplay and a terrific cast working at the top of their game.

The 1966 film stars Connery as Samson Shillitoe, a slightly crazed poet who is working on an epic poem, but has writer's block and is unable to finish the poem, while driving his waitress wife Rhoda (Joanne Woodward) crazy and trying to stay two steps ahead of the police who are after him for alimony. Rhoda sees an important psychiatrist named Dr. Oliver West (Patrick O'Neal) on television and is convinced that the doctor can help Samson with his writer's block. Rhoda sends Samson to Dr. West for help, a move that eventually finds Samson institutionalized and facing a lobotomy.

Elliott Baker's screenplay is rich with some surprisingly adult touches that I didn't see coming. Within the first ten minutes, the central character is observed having sex with a partially naked secretary in an office, a scene which, according to the IMDB, was featured in an edition of PLAYBOY shortly after the film's release. The film also implies that Samson is physically and abusive to poor Rhoda and there is a scene in the final act featuring Dr. West's unhappy wife, Lydia (Jean Seberg) and a horny psychiatirst that today cannot be interpreted as anything but attempted rape. This was pretty adult stuff for 1966, but none of it ever crosses the line that couldn't in 1966.

Director Irving Kerschner (The Flim Flam Man) keeps this movie at a lightning pace, but its constant shift in tone does make it difficult to stay completely invested in what's going on. Just as we've gotten to really like and care about Samson Shillitoe (even if we aren't supposed to), the forces working against him in the film turn the proceedings darker thsn necessary. The scene where Dr. West and the other doctors at the hospital are discussing the lobotomy is undeniably creepy. As eccentric as Samson might be, there is nothing in his actions that make a lobotomy the answer to his problems. It was also a little annoying how Rhoda's feeling about her husband changed every time she appeared onscreen. Did enjoy the fact that like James Bond, the character's undeniable appeal to the fairer sex does propel the story in directions we don't see coming.

Despite the problems with the story, the movie remains watchable thanks to a wonderful caast, led by the dashing and charismatic Connery in a performance that commands the screen the way Gene Hackman did in The Royal Tannenbaums...Samson is kind of a jerk, but he's so darned likable. Woodward is a little shrill as Rhoda but I have never enjoyed Seberg onscreen as much as I did here, perfectly matched by O'Neal as her scummy husband. And if you don't blink, you'll also catch appearances from Kay Medford, Zohra Lampert, Colleen Dewhirst, Sorrell Booke, Clive Revill, Jackie Coogan, Bibi Osterwald, Mabel Albertson, Sue Ane Langdon, and Gerald S. O'Loughlin. A slightly exhausting, but still entertaining movie.

Women Talking
Director and screenwriter Sarah Polley scores with 2022's Women Talking, a brutal, disturbing, yet oddly riveting story about a group of deeply religious women who have been through unspeakable horrors in a story whose precious little backstory only fuels the power of the piece.

This incredible fact based story introduces us to a group of deeply religious women who are the female population of a religious community simply known as The Colony. For almost four years, these women have been drugged and physically and sexually abused by the men of the community. The men have temporarily gone to the city and the women grab the opportunity to decide what to do. They vote on whether to stay and fight or to just leave. After the vote they have a meeting to discuss what to do and a young man named August (the only adult male in the film) is there to offer advice and take the minutes of the meeting.

Polley has mounted an ugly story on a prisiine canvas, giving it even more of a disturbance factor. We don't see any of the abusers in this story, in fact, the only thing we see in terms of backstory is flashes of some of the women with bruises on their legs and blood all over their nightgowns. Eventually, this forces the viewer to focus on the pain these women have gone through and their desperation to be rid of it, which I'm pretty sure was Polley's intentions.

It's lovely watching these women allow their faith to guide them through their decision making process and not the expected pure anger that should accompany such an experience. I loved that only a few of the women felt they should definitely stay or definitely leave as the story opens and that most of them are truly conflicted about what they should do. I also found myself concerned about August. Couldn't help but wonder what his fate would be when the men returned.

Polley has crafted a story so compelling that it has earned Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, the latter of which I think it should win. The cast is uniformly excellent with standout work from Rooney Mara, Jessie Buckley, Judith Ivey, Claire Foy, and Ben Whishaw, who was robbed of a Supporting Actor nomination for his sensitive turn as August. Not for all tastes, but for those game, an edgy and challenging film experience.

How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life
The recent passing of Stella Stevens motivated my first look at a saucy little battle of the sexes from 1968 called How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life, which features a talky but intelligent screenplay that almost makes up for the now dated ideas about male/female relationships that are the roots of this comedy.

Harry Hunter (Eli Wallach) is a married department store executive who is separated from his wife and currently living with his sweet and level-headed mistress, Muriel (Anne Jackson). Harry's best friend, Dave Sloan (Dean Martin), a confirmed bachelor has failed miserably at trying to convince Harry to return to his wife, so he decides to go after the mistress, but he mistakes a store salesgirl named Carol Corman (Stevens) for Harry's mistress and pretends to romance her, but avoids marriage by claiming to be a widower not ready for marraige again. Eventually, Carol learns the truth about Dave and puts together an elaborate plan for revenge.

Stanley Shapiro, who won an Oscar for writing Pillow Talk, and Nick Monaster are the co-authors of this seemingly sophisticated comedy that found its genesis in the "will they or won't they" comedies like Pillow Talk and even utilized storytelling techniques employed in the 1959 classic, like the inner monologues between Dave and Carol during their opening scenes in the elevator, but the story definitely goes to a more adult level than Pillow Talk ever did as Carol's plan for revenge is based on the theory that a wrong or neglected mistress deserves continued compensation even after the relationship ended. This film was actually made a couple of decades before Michelle Triola Marvin sued Lee Marvin for palimony.

According to the IMDB, the role of Carol was originally written for Marilyn Monroe, but was shelved after her death. Ironically, Dean Martin was Monroe's final leading man on the film she was working on at the time of her death, Something's Gotta Give. As the story unfolds, it is clear that the part of Carol was probably conceived for Monroe, but Stella Stevens brings an intelligence to the character that Marilyn probably wouldn't have been capable of, especially near the end of her career. The Carol character does initially seem to come off as kind of a ditz, but her intelligence is peeled away in layers as the story progresses, making Carl's machinations of Dave completely believable.

Director Fielder Cook (A Big Hand for the Little Lady) keeps the story bouncy and always in forward motion. Martin seems to be phoning it in as Dave, but the vivacious performance by Stella Stevens and the terrific support from Wallach and real life spouse Jackson make this one worth watching.

Chris Rock: Selective Outrage
Netflix is behind a ferocious return to the stand up mic for Chris Rock in a 2023 concert called Chris Rock: Selective Outrage that provides the same kind of edgy challenging humor that Rock provided in the 90's on HBO.

As the concert began, shot live from Baltimore, Maryland, with Rock strolling onstage dressed all in white, I have to admit the first thing that flashed through my mind was 1980's Richard Pryor Live from the Sunset Strip, filmed right after the freebasing accident that put him in the hospital because the audience in this concert were obsessed with wanting to hear exactly what happened. Needless to say, I was on pins and needles waiting to hear what Chris would have to say about what happened at the Oscars last year. Of course, he waited until the end of the concert to talk about it. I was immensely impressed with the kind of bold humor that made Chris the king of HBO during the 1990's and a huge improvement over his last concert Tambourine.

As expected, Chris covers a myriad of topics, including a reference to Robert Kardashian and the OJ trial that initially seems kind of a dated subject, but Chris manages to make it work. I loved when he talked about what he felt America's number one addiction is and his answer will definitely surprise you. Chris returned to a Rock staple here: providing jokes that only provided laughs from selected parts of the audience, especially during his tirade regarding abortion, that produced some initial rumbling from the audience, but eventually morphed into some major laughs.

This concert was also the first time I've seen Chris talk about something that most stand-ups love to talk about. This was the first time I've ever heard Chris talk about his daughters. His story about how a field trip to Portugal ended up getting daughter Lola kicked out of school had me on the floor.

And yes, he makes us wait for it, but when he finally gets around to the subject of Will Smith, he is merciless and this final ten minutes of the concert are worth the price of admission. This was the return of the King of HBO, courtesy of Netflix, that returned Rock to the stand up mic where everything he says is absolutely correct.